Release Notes
• Simplified installation for 64-bit Windows Vista and Windows 7 operating systems.
• “Align with Target” mode. Provides an alternative SunEye alignment to a reference azimuth using visual information available at the site, instead of the built-in compass, which may be impacted by metal objects nearby. The targets could be a distant tree or pole whose direction is known, or a rooftop reference such as the seams or tiles on a roof surface.
• Solar Access for 1 axis and 2 axis tracking. Solar access calculations are now provided for 1 and 2 axis tracking in addition to fixed arrays.
• Support for Canadian cities.
• PV Designer equipment database updated. The data for modules and inverters is updated, including with the latest available data from the California Energy Commission (CEC).
• PV Designer can use multiple inverters. Ability to have multiple inverters in a single design, as many as one per module.
• PV Designer inverter “gas gauge”. Single display shows how module layout and stringing affect voltage, current, and power versus inverter limits.
• PV Designer New Design and Layout "Guides". Provides guidance for New Design process and new features for layout.
Version 4.2 – 3/16/2010
• Enhanced skyline detection. User can select Sky Type to improve SunEye's automatic detection of obstruction and open sky. Improves performance in challenging lighting conditions.
• User Compass Cal added. Enables field calibration of SunEye electronic compass.
• Various SunEye bug fixes.
• Magnetic Declination calculation for Session Location was updated to use IGRF-11 Model, the 11th Generation International Geomagnetic Reference Field model. See the website: here. May result in changes to magnetic declination values up to 1-2 degrees.
• PV Designer localization added for French, Italian, German, Spanish.
• PV Designer English/Metric units added.
Version 4.0 – 2/15/2010
• SunEye 210 release.
• Includes features of the 210, including Skyline Scenarios for 210 Skylines, electronic orientation, orientation menu, integrated GPS.
• Some bug fixes in the PV Designer.
Version 3.0 – 12/18/2009
• Full feature release of the PV Designer. The ability to add custom modules and inverters, and automatic report generation were added from the previous trial release.
• Includes trial activation and purchasing of PV Designer.
• The following notes are intended to describe aspects of this software release.
• Equipment database. The data for modules and inverters is preliminary. Where data is known to be missing or incomplete, notations are provided. This may have significant impact on the calculations of energy production. User specifications can be entered using the custom equipment function.
• Partial shade model and SolarMagic™ calculations. The calculations for AC kWh are adjusted for shade, weather, and string effects. The algorithms used provide an estimate. However, results may vary and the calculations do not provide any guarantee of actual.
• Limit checks are performed on the designs:
1.The system operating voltage is checked to ensure it is in the operating range of the inverter. The minimum voltage occurs at the maximum temperature, and the maximum voltage occurs at the minimum temperature.
2.The maximum open circuit voltage is checked to ensure it does not exceed the maximum voltage of the inverter. The maximum voltage occurs at the minimum temperature.
3.The maximum system current is checked to ensure it does not exceed the maximum current of the inverter.
4.The worst case maximum system power is checked to ensure it does not exceed the maximum power of the inverter. It is assumed that the worst case maximum system power occurs at the maximum insolation and minimum temperature.
• The Min/Max temperature values are defaulted to conservative values and to be accurate must be reset by the user in the Weather Area.
• Currently the designs are limited to a single input on one inverter. In addition each design contains a single plane. It may be possible to simulate multiple planes and/or multiple inverters using the “Combine” feature which sums the energy from up to four (4) designs.
• Solmetric SunEye sessions are required for operation of the software. An example session is available at www.solmetric.com for illustration but shade calculations can only be done using skylines from the Solmetric SunEye.
• Derating. Derate factors, such as wire losses and other factors that reduce output are incorporated into each design. These values are defaulted and to be changed must be input by the user for each design. Derate factors are expressed in percent.
• Summary reports are not available in the free trial version. Expanded reports with greater detail and graphs and images of the designs are available in the paid subscription version.
• English-only user interface. Although the Solmetric SunEye and the Desktop Companion Software are available in five languages (English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish), the language of the PV Designer software is currently English only.
Version 2.8 – 1/14/2009
• Added ability to use edit mode outside sun paths on device. Previously this feature was desktop only.
• NREL TMY3 weather data for the U.S.A is now integrated. TOF/TSRF are now calculated when TMY3 weather is used.
• New Horizon view chart showing for every azimuth direction what the highest elevation angle of the obstruction in that direction is. The azimuth range and window size can be specified.
Version 2.7 – 9/16/2008
• SunEye software and User’s Guides are now available in Spanish, Italian and French (in addition to English and German that were already available).
• New international database of cities with latitudes and longitudes available when creating a new session. All European Union Countries and Australia are included. The United States cities have been updated to include more cities.
• Session can now be viewed in Google Earth. For Skylines that were acquired with the GPS option, Google Earth KMZ files can be exported to view in Google Earth.
• Added ability to export skyline data for PVSYST (.hor files).
Version 2.6 – 4/17/2008
• For 110 v2 platforms, fixed a bug that would cause the camera image to be too red for the first image after the SunEye device is powered on.
• Fixed a bug related to daylight savings time that could cause session and skyline creation times to be off by an hour.
Version 2.5 – 3/25/2008
• GPS performance improvements and bug fixes.
• Automated checks for software updates over Internet.
• When acquiring the first Skyline in a new session:
1.Provides opportunity to define the default panel tilt and orientation for the session
2.Displays a reminder to verify the open sky vs. obstructed sky auto detection
• Feature to change panel orientation for all skylines in a session at the same time (on desktop software only).
• When selecting which Skylines to include in the “Session Solar Access Averages” or exported in a report, individual skyline details can be seen on the selected skyline.
• Other minor bug fixes and enhancements.
Version 2.4 - 1/18/2008
• Support for new SunEyeTM models 110N and 110S.
• The International license is now available. Having this license installed allows the language and region to be selected (currently only languages are English and German). This license also allows for Session locations outside of the United States.
• It is now possible to select which Skylines of a session should be used in generating reports and computing solar access averages.
• Text entry keyboards now have an option for QWERTY keyboard layout style.
• Added ability to export skyline data for Valentin’s PV•SOL (.hor files).
• Other bug fixes and feature enhancements.
Version 2.3 - 10/18/2007
• Bug fixes related to the GPS feature.
• Bug fix related to changing sessions and different panel orientations.
Version 2.2 - 9/20/2007
• Added software support for the SunEyeTM GPS option.
• When entering panel orientation in Skyline Properties, it is now possible to specify the panel azimuth as either true or magnetic azimuth.
• Session location latitude, longitude, and magnetic declination now have a precision of .1° (used to be 1°).
• For SunEyeT 100N v2 platforms, fixed a bug that would cause the SunEyeT device battery to die overnight while powered off.
• For SunEyeT 100N v2 platforms, fixed issues that caused the SunEyeT device to hang on power up.
• For SunEyeT 100N v2 platforms, improved the automatic skyline obstruction detection algorithm.
Version 2.1 - 8/13/2007
• Fixed problem with power on of SunEye 100N v2 hardware platforms.
Version 2.0 - 7/31/2007
• Software support for SunEye 100N v2 hardware platforms.
Version 1.6 - 3/5/2007
• Fixed a bug that caused the panel orientation property of a skyline to sometimes display incorrectly.
Version 1.5 - 2/19/2007
• Added panel orientation property to provide the ability to set panel tilt and azimuth used when calculating solar access values.
• Added a new averaging feature that calculates the average annual, seasonal, and monthly solar access values for all skyline datasets contained within a session.
Version 1.4 - 1/8/2007
• Fixed bug that prevented skylines from being edited on Windows 2000 installations.
• Improved sunpath accuracy in winter months.
Version 1.3 - 12/14/2006
• Added a new exported data format for obstruction elevations. This table reports the elevation of the highest shade-causing obstruction for every 1° of azimuth.
• Open sky editor now allows editing outside of the sunpaths region.
• Added feature to allow selection of months displayed in the Annual Sunpaths View to be either Jun-Dec or Dec-Jun.
• Exported reports are now importable by Adobe Acrobat.
• Several minor enhancements and bug fixes.
Version 1.1 - 10/13/2006
Fixed bug where times and dates of sessions and skylines were displayed incorrectly when the device was not set to Pacific (GMT-8) time zone.
Version 1.0 - 9/29/2006
Initial Release
